A senior/retired pastor wrote:

But as I said a long time ago in one of my postings, I never learned THAT in theological college–where the emphasis was heavily upon training in the intellectual/theological disciplines. I wonder whether our theologs get enough of this dimension now? I would love to hear a few reports. Is more of this still a felt need amongst recent graduates?

Blessings and cheers!

I responded

I’ll bite…

Theological Colleges can easily be scapegoats for all our pastoral deficiencies, but a question I’m asking is ‘Why, if Alan is correct, did we allow our Colleges become academies rather than seminaries…?’

As I listen to the stories of pastors-in-transition, many make a comment along the lines ‘Why didn’t they teach me that in College/Seminary?’

Fortunately, these days our seminaries are taking on board the feedback from generations of pastors, and are incorporating into their curricula subjects like Spirituality, Spiritual Formation, counselling skills, and various aspects of practical theology… (Put me down as a heretic: I’d give a six-month mandatory course on the basics of Hebrew and Greek, teach ’em how to use a lexicon etc. and replace those subjects for *most* theologs with practical stuff).

I’d like to see more of our practising pastors be let loose among pastors-to-be. It’s interesting that many have told me they’ve never been invited to Whitley (or wherever…) and these people have loads of pastoral and practical wisdom to share… Interesting, that. (And for some years theological students attended our pastors’ retreats – good times…)